Oxford United (h) - 09/12/25

[roverblue]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c3w7nw3nylqo

Tomorrow night must be in doubt given the amount of rain already down, be a complete shambles if the club call it off an hour beforehand or during again.

Edited 2 hours ago by roverblue

[roversfan99]

7 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The owners are not on record per se as refusing it, if I recall, at the time Waggott suggested (maybe to the Fans Forum)  the total cost of a root and branch replacement would be in the order of £2.4m and that he would explore the possibility of sponsorship to defray the cost.

As always under his stewardship nothing actually happened and I think a few bits of the pitch were relaid with modern high tech mesh based turf instead. We dont know if he and / or Pasha ever actually asked the owners to stump up the full amount, but whose fault it was is immaterial, it was never actually done.

Fast forward a few years, and Waggott was still here when the first of the three postponements/abandonments occurred so it was clear the issue was far more pressing. 

We've had anecdotal evidence on here from Mike Graham that Waggott was in favour of some sort of excess storage tank but again nothing was done. At the Club they've all known about the problem for a number of years and done nothing whatsoever about it whether it be a proper replacement or a cheaper alternative.

 

Obviously it would take ages to find the minutes for numerous meetings but I am almost certain that following the initial meeting where Waggott said he had proposed that, there was a subsequent meeting where the idea had been knocked back due to cost. More recently it was touched on and it was said that the cost was quite low prior to covid (and the court case excuse) but they hadnt given the go ahead, and after a year or two the price had gone up.

Who is it fault isnt immaterial, its really important. And again, its the owners.

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

There's a lot of pitch drainage experts suddenly on the forum! 🙂

There's been a lot of talk about whether hugely complicated and expensive technological solutions are needed and I don't know the first thing about engineering principles or pitch drainage but as as a lay person Id be hugely surprised if:

a) After 30 years of neglect the existing drainage system didnt need a good clean and some maintenance.

and

b) similarly Id be surprised if the bottom half of the pitch wasn't so compacted due to never being replaced that  a huge amount of water never reaches the drains in the first place when it rains.

Thirdly, even if it's not just the above, I can't believe that in this day and age there isn't a relatively simple solution available to the problem. The cost is irrelevant, it has to be done in the same way a stand would have to be repaired if it was deemed unsafe.

Fourthly even if said remedial work is relatively time consuming and/or can only be carried out in the close season I refuse to believe that temporary measures can't be put in place until it's sorted permanently like covers for the pitch and a pump to remove any excess drain off and/or rent some proper water removal machinery of the sort used by high end golf Clubs or Cricket Clubs. Not a few hand operated fucking mops.

Anything else is just excuses.

Ha, I'm no expert. I generally have very little to contribute to the forum but I do work in Civil Engineering, albeit not in drainage. I have limited knowledge of drainage but some at least.

Edited 2 hours ago by davulsukur

[TimmyJimmy]

Agree totally that the drainage system needs updating. It's a close season job. Right now we need an intermediate solution and it's surely not rocket science.

The pitch is only a 105 x 69 meter surface FFS.

The Problem.

Turf and soil have capacity for holding water beyond which the ground is 'waterlogged' and new rainfall sits on top.

The Solution.

Stop it from being waterlogged. No dry turf is going to get beyond its capacity with 90 minutes of match time rainfall no matter how hard it rains.

Cover the playing surface days before and move the water falling on the covers. The pitch is raised and water falls downwards (are you sitting comfortably children). Wherever it pools buy a small made in China pump and move somewhere, anywhere, away from the pitch. It'll find its own way to natural drainage (witness Nuttall St isn't under water).

It's like you need to talk to these 'directors' like 6 year olds. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE PASHA/GESTEDE!!

A 105 x 69 meter surface to look after and we piss 6 points up the wall because we hadn't realised rain in Blackburn could be an issue.

Give me strength. Oxford, stay at home, it's goning to rain hard and we're f'ing clueless.

 

[wilsdenrover]

18 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Obviously it would take ages to find the minutes for numerous meetings but I am almost certain that following the initial meeting where Waggott said he had proposed that, there was a subsequent meeting where the idea had been knocked back due to cost. More recently it was touched on and it was said that the cost was quite low prior to covid (and the court case excuse) but they hadnt given the go ahead, and after a year or two the price had gone up.

Who is it fault isnt immaterial, its really important. And again, its the owners.

July ‘21 minutes:

[JHRover]

Just shrug shoulders and hope it all blows over - that's the policy of this regime.

They'll be panicking about tomorrow night yes, but then it will just be a hope that there are no further problems. They won't actually do anything serious to ensure it.

Most we get is a fans forum comment that they are getting quotes/plans drawn up for the summer. Then it won't actually happen because they won't pay the going rate to perform such work and we will be having the same discussion this time next year and every year thereafter. 

[wilsdenrover]

On a lighter note, the club have resolved one issue raised at the September ‘21 meeting:

 

[B16Rover]

22 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

On a lighter note, the club have resolved one issue raised at the September ‘21 meeting:

 

In fairness, where I sit Ewood only ever feels like it's got 6,000 there.  So when the attendance shows at 13,000+ I can only presume those fans are so densely packed in I can't notice them

[chaddyrovers]

47 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Obviously it would take ages to find the minutes for numerous meetings but I am almost certain that following the initial meeting where Waggott said he had proposed that, there was a subsequent meeting where the idea had been knocked back due to cost. More recently it was touched on and it was said that the cost was quite low prior to covid (and the court case excuse) but they hadnt given the go ahead, and after a year or two the price had gone up.

Who is it fault isnt immaterial, its really important. And again, its the owners.

and what the cost now of total pitch revamp and new drainage system now? 

 

 

[B16Rover]

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

and what the cost now of total pitch revamp and new drainage system now? 

 

 

About what Tavares will cost in full.  Dare I say the pitch so far would've got us 6 points more than Sidnei

[wilsdenrover]

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

and what the cost now of total pitch revamp and new drainage system now? 

 

 

Wrexham’s was reported to have cost £1 million this summer.

[TheKitGuy]

8 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Wrexham’s was reported to have cost £1 million this summer.

I guess it all depends on where it is draining too etc.. more cost if it's more complex.

[chaddyrovers]

so around £1-2m depending on a number of different factors 

 

[wilsdenrover]

Or 1/18th to 1/9th of an Adam Wharton

[philipl]

Storm Bram planning to stage a pitch occupation protest against Venkys tomorrow night.

In the unlikely event we get to the allotted 90+5 minutes goal for Oxford, this is a trickier opponent than their league position would suggest.

[...]

Whos for a pint in the Winchester? 

[B16Rover]

Are we doing any legends caps at this game? The guy in the Riverside who comes suited and booted with a radio and fancy hat? Paul the octopus to maintain the nautical theme? 

[Mattyblue]

If it costs a million quid plus, it costs a million quid plus.

These types of works are the *absolute minimum* obligations of a football club at any level, I.e an infrastructure that means you can fulfil your fixtures.

If the owners can’t/wont meet those, then sell up and fuck off.

Edited 1 hour ago by Mattyblue

[Ghost7]

15 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

so around £1-2m depending on a number of different factors 

 

 

Please understand (as should the entire fanbase) £1 - 2m is chump change for our owners and does not impact FFP. To put it into perspective they would spend that amount on one, of many watches and forget they own it. They are free to spend as much as they want on facilities without sanction but have no real interest in Blackburn Rovers.

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, Ghost7 said:

 

Please understand (as should the entire fanbase) £1 - 2m is chump change for our owners and does not impact FFP. To put it into perspective they would spend that amount on one, of many watches and forget they own it. They are free to spend as much as they want on facilities without sanction but have no real interest in Blackburn Rovers.

I know its not an impact on FFP and I said we need to invest in a new pitch and drainage facilities several times

[Mike E]

6 minutes ago, B16Rover said:

Are we doing any legends caps at this game? The guy in the Riverside who comes suited and booted with a radio and fancy hat? Paul the octopus to maintain the nautical theme? 

He died just before Venkys took over, think he must’ve known.

[wilsdenrover]

The top end figure of £2 million is only £50,000 than the interest paid on the overdraft for the last accounting period (holding company).

 

[B16Rover]

Part genuine question. 

If Tuesday 6pm it's chucking it down, conscious of fixture congestion, do we just play all the kids? 

[Ghost7]

Generally Rovers fans do underestimate the wealth of our owners and what they could do, if they wanted. Sadly they have no interest in improving the club and that is largely the main reason they need to go.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Has the Club and its employees gone into total lockdown...lost at Sea?

Edited 53 minutes ago by SIMON GARNERS 194